Dunelm is the UK's leading specialist out of town homewares retailer, operating in the 12bn homewares market. The Group currently operates 161 stores, branded Dunelm Mill, of which 157 are out-of-town superstores and 4 are high street shops. The majority of the stores are located in the Midlands or north-west of England. Dunelm employs over 5,000 full and part time staff, the vast majority of whom work in the stores.

Dunelm was founded in 1979 as a market stall business, selling ready-made curtains. The first shop was opened in Leicester in 1984 and over the following years the business developed into a successful chain of high street shops in the Midlands specialising in soft furnishings. The first Dunelm superstore was opened in 1991, leading to the Group's expansion into the broader homewares market.

The superstores provide an average of 28,000 sq ft of selling space and offer an extensive range of around 20,000 products across a broad spectrum of categories, including bedding, curtains, gifts and seasonal items, cushions, bathroom products, kitchenware, quilts, pillows and rugs. Dunelm also specialises in offering a wide range of fabrics, made to measure curtains and a frequently changing series of special buys. The directors are passionate about ensuring that all ranges live up to Dunelm's philosophy of offering customers "Simply Value for Money".

Dunelm also operates an on-line store, to be found at www.dunelm-mill.com.

Dunelm listed on the London Stock Exchange in October 2006 (DNLM.L) and has a current market capitalisation of approximately 750 million

In January 2010 CEO Will Adderly said:

"Looking ahead, it will become much more difficult to sustain like for like growth over the next six to twelve months. However we have a strong pipeline of new stores coming through so I am confident that our overall business will continue to grow and to become stronger."

One of the best run retail companies you'll ever find. Did well even in the height of the credit crunch and the shop always impresses me. Bizarrely though I have never traded the shares primarily because of the large spread.

We should see an Interim Management Statement here before the end of the month, I would expect it to be very positive. This company does not appear to have been held back by the financial problems of the last 18 months, in fact it seems to have been in the right place at the right time.
They have just introduced a new training scheme to support its expansion plans, they expact 200 staff to sign up to a programme which aims to identify the next generation of store managers.
Dunelm recently opened its 101st store and is aiming for 200 stores.

Nice O trade just gone through 52.500 buy @ 396p, somebody has confidence in this.

lots of small trades but the price is certainly moving up, IMS due this week.
427p now.

Strong finish to the day at 432p, a new high, should be interesting tomorrow.

Dunelm is still moving in the right direction, having a second attempt to close above 500 at the moment, an earlier trade of 522 today gives hope.
I viisited our local superstore last Friday and my only concern was the long queue's at the 5 tills, when we wanted to pay for our goods.
GLA

Homewares retailer Dunelm extended gains following Thursday’s strong trading update, when it said the wet weather had boosted footfall into stores. Citigroup Nomura and UBS all raised their price targets and the shares rose 19 to 550p.

Keeping to Thursday, we should enjoy annual results from Dunelm , and if you want to see shares that have climbed a wall, look no further -- they are up more than 25% since late June, and 35% on the year, to 584p.

The household goods retailer, which trades as Dunelm Mill, gave us a pretty positive update in July, and has been a winner in the post-crisis stock-market recovery so far.

With the shares offering a modest dividend yield of 2.2%, according to forecasts, and sitting on a P/E of 17, they seem a bit toppy right now to me. But the long-term valuation should, I think, be based on the firm's future dividend policy, and that's what I'll be looking out for

Been giving them the once over DM and does seem like a decent bet for a good results day come thursday......BUT that huge spread is a little off putting. I was wondering when I looked at the chart why the daily moves were so strong, now I know. Great if your already in them.

Got to have a think about this.

Gone long on these this morning. Nice bounce off the 12 day EMA. Looks like we have a 52 week breakout imminent. Results thursday morning and last ones were pretty good. Fingers crossed.

Well worth having a read of the
last trading update.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207050700049329G

Dont forget results thursday.

Comment on Sharecast after last results...

http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=20208193

Dunelm set to beat full year forecasts
Thu 05 Jul 2012

DNLM - Dunelm Group

Latest Prices
Name Price %
Dunelm Group 603.00p +4.06%

FTSE 250 11,847 +0.33%
FTSE 350 3,091 +0.05%
FTSE All-Share 3,025 +0.05%
General Retailers 1,854 +0.99%

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Homewares retailer Dunelm said total revenue increased 21.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of the group's fiscal year, boosted by the unusually wet weather but cautioned that it expects consumer spending to remain under pressure.

Like-for-like sales grew 10.4% in the final quarter compared to 1.9% growth the same time a year earlier as consumers took to the shops to avoid the dreary weather conditions.

The group said it enjoyed strong footfall into stores and estimates that the net benefit to total revenues from the weather conditions was around £8m during the period.

The board now expects that pre-tax profit for the year will be around £96m, ahead of current consensus expectations.

"We estimate that approximately £2.5m of this outperformance is attributable to the exceptional weather benefit over the second half of the financial year," it said in a statement.

Gross margin is expected to increase by approximately 20-30 basis points for the full financial year.

Dunelm, which opened a new superstore at Greenford in the quarter, now operates 115 superstores. The pipeline for new superstores remains strong, with a total of ten stores contractually committed, including its store in Cambridge.

The group had net cleared funds of £60m at 30 June 2012 compared to £31.6m a year earlier.

Chief Executive Nick Wharton commented: "The final quarter has seen further strong progress throughout the business, with robust like-for-like sales trends.”

"Looking ahead, we anticipate that consumer spending will remain under pressure. Nevertheless, with ten further store openings committed, a strengthening multi-channel offering and with our unique proposition resonating with a wide range of customers, we remain confident in the future growth prospects for the business."

CJ

Certainly a lot of demand for
this stock and a retailer going
against the grain.

Cant help think that the continued
poor weather will have boosted its
sales and profits even further in
the last quarter.

Results thursday.

Good day, results thursday.

DNLM Dunelm.

Interesting snippet from another
site which confirms the news a
mucker of mine told me last thursday......

Thursday 13 September

Analysts are expecting little surprise when Dunelm-Mill (DNLM) reports its full-year results on Thursday.

Recent news: Dunelm published an exceptionally strong fourth-quarter interim management statement in July, with like for like sales of +10.4%. Additionally, the company guided for pre-tax profits to come in at £96 million, smashing consensus expectations of £92 million.

Analysts' expectations: Roche predicts that there may be news about an "imminent" £40 million return of capital.

Roche is confident that Dunelm will continue to gain market share despite UK homewares sales being less strong in July and August than in the second quarter, pointing out that Dunelm's offer appeals to a range of consumers from different income segments due to its four price point levels.
He has a 'buy' recommendation on the stock, pointing out that Dunelm was a company "which is gaining share whilst improving margins, has a demonstrably strong management team and the cash generating properties to be able to more than double its dividend yield".

52 week new high and breakout.

On a positive run up before results in the morning.

Look forward to a good set of results.

Fingers crossed.

Final Results



Financial highlights



· Revenues up 12.1% to £603.7m; like-for-like growth of 3.1% (2011: like-for-like decline -0.6%) - includes estimated £8m weather benefit in final quarter

· Gross margin up 30 basis points to 48.3% (2011: 48.0%)

· Operating profit up 14.3% to £95.2m (2011: £83.3m) - estimated underlying operating profit £92.7m, excluding final quarter weather benefit

· Profit before taxation up 15.1% to £96.2m (2011: £83.6m)

· Basic EPS up 18.9% to 35.3p (2011:29.7p); fully diluted EPS up 19.8% to 35.1p (2011: 29.3p)

· Year-end net cash of £65.2m (2011: £35.1m)

· Recommended final dividend of 10.0p per share (2011: 8.0p), resulting in full year dividend up 21.7% at 14.0p

(2011: 11.5p )

· Additional proposed capital return of £65.8m (32.5p per share)





Business highlights



· Continuing market share gains on a like-for-like basis

· 14 new superstores opened in the year (including two relocations)

· Four further units opened since year-end (including one relocation) - now 118 superstores in total

· Contractually committed to 9 more units (including one relocation)

· UK portfolio target of c.200 superstores confirmed

· Continued investment in store refits; 50% of superstores either new or have benefitted from a major refit in

past 3 years

· Strong growth of multi-channel, contributing 2.5% of revenues across the year (3% in the final quarter)




http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4444141

Excelent results reported this morning.

Highlight.....

1.increase in Divi


2.Additional proposed capital return of £65.8m (32.5p per share) previouly estimated to be just £40 million.

BRIEF- Dunelm total div up 22 pct13 Sep 2012 - 07:15

LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Dunelm Group PLC : * Auto alert - Dunelm Group PLC total dividend up 21.7 percent to 14 pence per share * Auto alert - Dunelm Group PLC final dividend 10 pence per share ((London Equities Newsroom; +44 20 7542 7717)) ((For more news, please click here [DNLM.L]))

New store openings boost Dunelm profit13 Sep 2012 - 08:00

Sept 7 (Reuters) - British home furnishings retailer Dunelm Group Plc reported a 15 percent rise in full-year profit, helped by new store openings during the year and strong trading in the last quarter. The company said it benefitted from the severe weather that hit the United Kingdom earlier this year. Dunelm, which sells items such as bedding, curtains, kitchenware and lighting, said like-for-like sales increased 3.1 percent. Revenue growth was driven by its store development program, which added 14 new superstores during the year. Dunelm also proposed a final dividend of 10 pence per share as against 8 pence last year. It said it would also return excess capital worth 32.5 pence per share, or a total of 65.8 million pounds, to shareholders. July-June pretax profit rose to 96.2 million pounds from 83.6 million pounds a year ago. Revenue rose 12.1 percent to 603.7 million pounds. Shares in the company, which proposed a final dividend of 10 pence per share as against 8 pence last year, closed at 625 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. (Reporting by Karen Rebelo and Monika Shinghal in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) ((karen.rebelo@thomsonreuters.com)(within UK +44 20 7542 1810)(outside UK +91 80 4135 6102)(Reuters Messaging: karen.rebelo.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: DUNELMGROUP RESULTS/

New store opens here in inverness shortly

Hmmmmm

Expected more, must be getting greedy with age. :-))

:-))

The first quarter interim management statement from Dunelm sees the group going up easier comparatives figures, as a year ago like-for-like (LFL) sales were down 2.0% year-on-year (yoy).

"However, given the deterioration in market data, we expect a sharp slowdown in LFL sales and pencil in a flat quarter for Dunelm. Gross margin likely to show modest progress yoy," Peel Hunt suggests.

Just about broken out.

Every broker... and his dog is
upgrading this one this morning.

NICE.

"Dunelm hits top spot on the Uk High St" - Dunelm has leapfrogged John Lewis to become the UK's biggest seller of items for the Home.

VERY NICE :-)

Interesting "correction" in the price of this one recently. Keeping an eye on it - it's one that has proved profitable for me on a day trading basis as it quite often leaps around on low volume intraday.

That's it finally broke the £9 barrier, won't be too long before we see a tenner a share.

Final results

Highlights

· Continuing market share gains; now market leader with 6.9% of UK homewares market (source: Verdict Research);

· 14 new openings in the year (including two relocations and one re-opening) increasing footprint to 126 superstores;

· Contractually committed to 10 more superstores;

· 80% growth in multi-channel revenues, now representing over 4% of total business;

· Increasing investment in brand awareness - "There's no place like Dunelm";

· Continued investment in customer proposition, infrastructure, IT systems and people,to underpin long-term growth;

Dividends

· Recommended final dividend of 11.5p per share (2012: 10.0p), giving full year dividend of 16.0p (2012: 14.0p);

· Special dividend of 25.0p per share to be paid in October, returning a further £50.7m of excess cash to shareholders.

Verb Sap

Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 942.50 940.00 900.00 1,020.00 Upgrades

Citigroup Buy 942.50 940.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 Retains

Nomura Neutral 942.50 940.00 990.00 990.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 942.50 940.00 925.00 960.00 Reiterates

Dunelm goes ex special dividend [25p] tomorrow

Listen to Nick Wharton, CEO & David Stead, FD of Dunelm Group plc (DNLM)

Preliminary results presentation, click the link below to listen:

Click here

Sharecast -

Buy homewares retailer Dunelm, the Sunday Times’s Danny Fortson advised. The company has quietly powered its way through the long period of economic gloom and is about to launch its first national TV advertising campaign. Its October 2nd trading update is likely to feature a sales dip caused by unusually hot weather but investors shouldn’t be deterred. With opportunities to expand through stores, catalogues and online, Dunelm’s winning streak has some way to go, Fortson wrote in the Inside the City column.

Good find dc

Interim Management Statement

Trading was volatile during the quarter with a marked reduction in footfall during the unusually warm weather reflecting Dunelm's status as a destination visit for discretionary homewares shopping. Accordingly the first four weeks of the period showed a significant decline in sales on a LFL basis. We returned to LFL growth over the remainder of the quarter.

As anticipated, gross margin has continued to increase year on year, with an estimated 70 basis points rise compared with the equivalent quarter last year. This reflects the benefit of increased direct sourcing compared with last year, as well as the cleaner inventory position at the start of the financial year following margin investments made in the second half of the previous year.

Store Portfolio

The estate currently comprises 126 superstores across the UK. Having committed to two further stores since our preliminary results announcement, a total of 12 further openings are now under contract, including two relocations. Six new stores are anticipated to commence trading prior to Christmas.

Financial Position

As at 28th September 2013 net cleared funds amounted to £75.4m. Daily average net cleared funds over the quarter were £57.1m. As recently announced, a special dividend amounting to £50.7m (25.0p per share) will be paid on 11th October 2013.

Still holding, the TV advert campaign might encourage more footfall

Rather than a share buyback, the board paid a special dividend which I much prefer

Burgeoning golden cross.

Skinny
The GC has changed to Black Cross; may come good though !

Have you seen any of Dunelm's TV advertising over this Christmas period ?

No I haven't as yet - Black cross?

Yes BC
The GC era has ended
Note the lines have crossed back to bearish signal

Jal; still holding

Look

If using afn 2 year chart, I prefer this :-

free stock charts from uk.advfn.com

Update tomorrow.

Trading Update

Total revenue for the half year grew by 4.8%, benefitting from our continuing portfolio development programme which included six new store openings (one of which was a relocation).

Like for like (LFL) revenue for the half declined by 0.9%. After a first quarter which, as previously reported, was negatively impacted by the unusually warm weather in the period, the second quarter saw LFL growth of 2.9%, supported by our second autumn catalogue and our first ever TV advertising campaign.

Gross Margin Percentage

Gross margin for the half year is estimated to have improved by 100 basis points compared with the prior year as our direct sourcing programme continued to bring benefits and as we annualised the impact of clearing slow-moving promotional lines.

Strategy Progress

The total number of superstores trading at the period end was 131. With three leases signed in the last quarter, there were nine new stores committed as at the period end, including two relocations. Our current expectation is that four of these new stores will open in the remainder of this financial year, taking our total anticipated openings for the financial year to ten, including three relocations2. Our medium term target remains to operate from around 200 superstores across the UK.

We have seen continued progress in our multi-channel business following the successful transition to a new fulfilment centre in October, giving us further capability in home delivery and the capacity for additional growth going forward. In the most recent quarter multi-channel represented approximately 6% of total revenues.

Financial Position

The Group remains strongly cash generative with closing net cleared funds at bank of £43.9m. Daily average cleared funds since payment of our special dividend in October amounted to £37.4m.


Commenting on Dunelm's performance, Nick Wharton, Chief Executive, said:

"Dunelm traded robustly during this key period with our trusted "every day low price" positioning retaining a strong appeal for customers. Our home delivery proposition has become much stronger as a result of our new fulfilment centre, and we are beginning to see the benefits from our increased advertising investment to drive brand awareness. These investments have been funded through continued gross margin expansion and with continuing profitable growth from new stores, the Board anticipates that profit before tax for the first half of the year will be approximately £61.5m.

"With a strengthening customer proposition, increasing brand awareness, a significant new store growth opportunity and an exciting multi-channel agenda in place, the Board remains confident in the long term growth prospects for the business."

Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 942.75 1,020.00 1,020.00 Reiterates

N+1 Singer Hold 942.75 950.00 950.00 Reiterates

talk about selling on results! ..... all the way up yesterday and all the way down today - tho i do not hold

Numis Add 943.50 979.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 Reiterates

Any thoughts following the Interim Results on 11th Skinny please?

I'm don't hold atm and am fairly ambivalent about them - they seem to have most of the necessary ingredients in place, but don't quite seem able to put them all together.

I've yet to see the TV advertising, maybe that will move them.

Interim Management Statement

Total revenue for the third quarter grew by 9.9% after four store openings in the period. These included one relocation of an existing under-sized superstore and one superstore which replaces two high street shops that have subsequently closed. This takes the total superstore openings in the financial year to date to 10.

Growth in like for like sales for the quarter was 5.0%, reflecting the absence of any snow disruption this year as well as ongoing investments which have strengthened our customer proposition and driven sales. These include ongoing development in multi-channel, the further roll-out of our Dunelm At Home proposition, enhanced customer service training, continuation of TV advertising and an expanded spring catalogue.

Gross Margin Percentage

Gross margin for the quarter has continued its positive trend with an improvement of approximately 100 basis points compared with the prior year. A key driver of margin improvement is direct sourcing activity, which we continue to support with increased infrastructure. In line with previous guidance, we anticipate that year on year margin growth will continue over the remainder of the financial year.

Strategy Progress

Our pipeline of legally committed new store opportunities stands at eight, of which two are anticipated to open prior to the financial year-end. This will take the number of store openings for the full financial year to 122 and our superstore portfolio to 136 stores at the year-end, compared with our medium term target to operate from 200 UK superstores.

We have seen continued progress in our multi-channel business with pleasing revenue growth during the period as we have capitalised on our improved delivery proposition since opening a new fulfilment operation last autumn, as well as the expansion of our range of exclusive home-delivery products. Our next key development will be to transition our website to a new software platform; we expect to complete this project in summer 2014 as previously indicated.

Financial Position

The Group remains strongly cash generative with closing net cleared funds at bank of £57.3m. Daily average net cleared funds over the period since our return of capital on 11th October 2013 were £47.7m.

Commenting on Dunelm's performance, Nick Wharton, Chief Executive, said:

"Dunelm has again delivered a period of solid progress. This reflects, in part, our willingness to invest to underpin the longer-term growth of the business - including in increased advertising to build brand awareness, further enhancing our home delivery proposition, and expanding our in-home consultation service. These investments will continue, increasing our operating cost ratio whilst benefiting sales and further strengthening our market leading proposition.

"With clear opportunities to develop further our in-store offer, to expand our store portfolio and to benefit from our exciting multi-channel and customer service initiatives, the Board remains confident in the growth prospects for the business."

Year-end Trading Update

Final results

Highlights

· Continuing market share gains and Dunelm remains market leader with 7.4% of UK homewares market (source: Verdict Research);

· 12 new openings in the year (including three relocations, resulting in the closure of two existing superstores and two high street shops) increasing footprint to 136 superstores;

· Contractually committed to 11 more superstores for FY15;

· Over 60%growth in multi-channel revenues, now representing over 6% of total business;

· Increasing investment in brand awareness with first national TV advertising campaign;

· Continued investment in product range, service proposition, multichannel, infrastructure, IT systems and people, to underpin long-term growth.


Dividend

· Recommended final dividend of 15.0p per share (2013: 11.5p) giving a 25% increase in the full year dividend to 20.0p (2013: 16.0p).

Board Changes

Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 854.50 850.50 900.00 900.00 Reiterates

Numis Add 854.50 850.50 1,000.00 1,000.00 Reiterates

Excelent trading update this morning.

03 Oct 2014 Dunelm Group PLC DNLM Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 828.25 794.00 900.00 900.00 Reiterates

Strong trading drives Dunelm sales in Q3

Fri 03 October 2014 08:55 | A A A
No recommendation
No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. Hargreaves Lansdown may not share ShareCast's (powered by Digital Look) views.

Strong trading saw third quarter sales at homewares retailer Dunelm rise to £180.6m, a 17% year-on-year gain.

Like-for-like growth was 8.9% compared with a 5.3% decline in the corresponding period 12 months ago, the company said, adding that gross margin had continued to rise, with an estimated 40 basis points rise compared with the equivalent quarter last year.

"Our sales performance has been strong in the first quarter, driven partly by soft comparatives from last year but also by the strength of the Dunelm offer and an increasing awareness of that offer across the UK," group chief executive Will Adderley said.

"As we look forward, our focus is very much on driving sales. We intend to capitalise on the significant investments we have made, and continue to make, across our business to underpin long term growth."

Dunelm shares rose 5.20% to 835.30p at 08:49 on Friday.

DNML Dunelm Group: Oriel upgrades from add to buy with a target price of 950p.

Ex-divi 3rd Mar 2015 (70p)

Dunelm's sales

StockMarketWire.com

Homewares retailer Dunelm's sales rose by 10.3% to GBP�448.1m in the six months to 2 January. Total like-for-like sales were up 4.6% at GBP404.9m.

Gross margins rose to 50.7% from 50.4% and pre-tax profiges increased by 10,7% to GBP75.5m.

Business Highlights � Continued focus on three part growth strategy - growing like for like sales, rolling out new stores, and growing our home delivery channel - with eight core projects now in place to deliver this

� Solid progress in LFL store sales, underpinned by strong performance from curtains and bedding, particularly our new Kids range

� On-going store portfolio expansion, with future focus now increasingly on London

� Further strong growth in home delivery of 24.4% with growth starting to accelerate following new web platform launch last year

Dividends

� Interim dividend increased by 9.1% to 6.0p per share (FY15: 5.5p per share)

� Special distribution of 31.5p per share (totalling �63.9m), in line with capital structure policy and reflecting continued strong cash generation

Chief executive John Browett said: "It is a really exciting time to be at Dunelm - a business built on a strong foundation of exciting product and design, unrivalled knowledge of the homewares market, a low-cost store network, great people and investment in systems. "Our focus remains on growing the business for the longer term. After making good progress so far, we are continuing to work towards our three part growth strategy and are now focused on eight core projects that will enable us to achieve this. This will allow us to improve our business substantially for our customers and, as we increase both our store network around London and our online presence, to develop Dunelm into a truly national homewares brand. "After a solid performance in the first half, we had a strong sale after Christmas and we expect further good progress in the remainder of the year."







Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Full year results this week. Any thoughts?

Final Results were 14 September 2016 for 52 weeks to 2 July 16

 Looks like a Q1 interim management statement on the 6 Oct.

Chris,
They look to be doing pretty good trading wise, although the sp looks to have dropped off some.
 

Oh just found from the Hargreaves Landsdown site 30 Sept 16 - Dunelm release a first quarter trading update, which may well confirm a negative impact on sales from recent weather.

Never traded them dc, bit confused re trading updates either Tues or Thurs can't find Calander on their website. Could go either way on watch list.

HSBC like them. I would think the brexit issue would be more of a concern then the weather ? Chris, a few others have downgraded.

Looks like the trading update on Thurs. Info from their own site.

Exactly dc, let's see how it pans out :0)

Dunelm revenues fall
StockMarketWire.com
Homewares retailer Dunelm's first quarter revenues fell by 1.8% to £198.7m. Total like-for-like growth (combining LFL stores and home delivery) decreased by 3.8%.

Unusually warm weather in the 13 weeks to 1 October had a dampening effect on store footfall.

But the group said it continued to see good growth in the online business, including a 17.9% increase in home delivery sales. Overall, Dunelm believes it is continuing to outperform the homewares market as a whole.

Chief executive John Browett said: "As expected, the homewares market has fallen due to unusually warm weather and this has correspondingly impacted our store performance over the period given the reduced footfall to our out-of-town superstores.

"However, we have continued to focus on our value based customer proposition and are increasing our market share in homewares, whilst also seeing good growth in our online business.

"We are looking forward to a stronger second quarter as we continue to invest in extra seasonal space, new till systems, store refits and new store openings. We should also benefit from weaker comparatives.

"We continue to focus on our key initiatives whilst ensuring we maintain our unique offer of tremendous value for money, combined with an unrivalled range and great service."

At 8:36am: (LON:DNLM) Dunelm Group PLC share price was -40.25p at 817.25p



Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

6 Oct
Canaccord...
920.00
Hold

6 Oct
Cantor...
950.00
Buy

6 Oct
Peel Hunt
1,000.00
Buy

This one could be good for a quick punt on the spreads this week. Been in a range for over three months between 590p and 640p. Any good news could propel sp back to 640p.

LATEST BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker New target Recomm.
30 Jun HSBC 640.00 Hold
17 May HSBC 640.00 Hold
13 Apr Deutsche Bank 730.00 Hold
12 Apr Peel Hunt 620.00 Hold
12 Apr Cantor... 850.00 Buy
31 Mar JP Morgan... 760.00 Overweight
15 Mar Citigroup 640.00 Neutral
1 Mar Peel Hunt 750.00 Hold
13 Feb Citigroup 670.00 Neutral
9 Feb Jefferies... 650.00 Underperform

Dunelm like-for-like sales up

StockMarketWire.com

Dunelm Group's total revenue for the fourth quarter rose by 17.7% to £240.0m.

Total revenue, excluding Worldstores, rose by 6.7% to £217.4m and total like-for-like growth (combining LFL stores and home selivery) grew by 3.8%.

Chief executive John Browett said: "The Worldstores acquisition will provide a massive leap forward to our online and store offer that we think our customers will love.

"The integration is going well and we are confident in the benefits it will generate. With around 20% of our sales now generated online, we believe that we have arrived as a significant e-commerce player in homewares.

"We've seen a good quarter of trade with positive like-for-like sales growth and a very strong online performance. Encouragingly, we continue to take market share.

"We continue to invest in the business for the longer term to improve our customer proposition and infrastructure and, despite an uncertain consumer environment, we go into the next financial year with some good momentum."

Intraday SP reached 636.25p

Jefferies - "Dunelm bought twice as much seasonal stock (e.g. electric fans, garden and BBQ related items) which led to seasonal sales + 70% and helped to offset the negative impact of a late Easter"

Ian Pierce - Fool.com

Domestic retailers of all stripes have fallen out of favour with many investors in recent months, but for contrarian investors this fear has created what appears to me to be a slew of bargains accross the FTSE 250. One of the glaring is big box home furnishings retailor Dunelm, whose shares trade at just 13.5 times forward earnings while offering a dividend yield that was over 9% last year.

And while Dunelm has had its rough patches in recent quarters, a 2.2% year-on-year decline in in like-for-like sales in Q3 caused a big sell-off, the company's dividend is well covered by earnings, debt levels are low and the company has surprisingly solid growth prospects.

On the dividend front, the company paid out 25.1p in ordinary dividends last year and threw in an additional 31.5p special payout at year-end thanks to surplus cash balances. We won't know until early September what level of special distribution will be made this year but the fact that pre-exceptional profits this year are expected to be around £110m, or £18m less than last year, does suggest a smaller payout. That said, last year's ordinary dividend alone represents a solid 4% yield, so there's little reason to panic if the special dividend is slightly lower.

And unlike many large retailers, Dunelm isn't swimming in debt. Management targets a net debt level between 0.25 and 0.75 times EBITDA, which provides plenty of freedom to spend the majority of free cash flow on store expansion and shareholder returns without threatening the health of the business.

Store expansion is one way the company is growing, but management isn't solely relying on new stores to boost growth. In fact, a renewed focus on online sales and sprucing-up stores led to LFL sales rising 3.8% in Q4. This along with profitability and free cash flow metrics, becomes more impressive once the newly -aquired Worldstores brand that management is revitalising is stripped out.

All told, with it's shares cheap, good growth prospects and a huge dividend yield on offer Dunelm is one income share I'd keep my eye on.